Plants For Aquarium

Morning everyone

Well my aquanano is now cycled and the filter/pump arrangement is now sorted out, thanks to some sterling advice from Col.

I now have my first resident - a male honey gourami, name of Odin (what can I say, the kids named him!).
Having been new to this whole thing, I put plastic plants in to start with; however, now I'm enviously eyeing some beautiful aquascapes online and have decided that I'd like some live plants as well. I only have gravel in my tank, so can't plant into it.
So my questions are:
Could I get some plants that have been grown on wood/stone and add these?
What would be the best types to get?
Is the lighting that comes with the aquanano sufficient for the plants to thrive?
Would a timer be useful so that I could ensure the lights were on for the right amount of time each day?

I realise that my options are limited by the size of this tank, but want to have the perfect setup if I can.

Would be very grateful for any advice

Diz1

Just to add that I am a well known failure with plants but I can grow java fern and anubias quite well. I have it growing on every piece of decor where there was space to tie it on. I have also just got some hornwort which I'm allowing to wind through a piece of wood that has loads of branches.

Thanks everyone!
Some great advice and ideas to be getting on with, though think I'll ditch the coffee idea Col and go straight to a couple of glasses of red wine tonight to make my browsing and choosing experience much nicer!
Once I've planted up and I can figure out how to attach photos, then I'll post a picture or two.

Thanks again, this is a great forum!

Diz1 

Red wine..... you're going to fit right in here. Welcome to your new cyber-home!

You can add photos by either clicking on the 'Attachments and other options' link just below the window where you type in a post. There is a max of 2012KB for piccie, so you might have to re-size before posting.

Or.... if you have a picture hosting account like Picasa or Photobucket, you can post in the url of that piccie in the space provided by clicking on the Mona Lisa picture above the row of smilies.

There are some really beautiful tanks on the internet aren't there? Have you looked at aquascaping on YouTube?
I have the same tank as you and have a few plants. I have soil and sand as substrates but I'm not going down the route of adding carbon or fertilizers daily. Not if I can get away with it. So far I have elodea, bacobia and something that may be fanwort or a similar plant. Oh and yesterday I bought java moss to tie to some twigs so we'll see how that gets on.
They all seem to be growing, with the possible exception of elodea, maybe too hot?
Which is good as I've no fish to contribute any carbon, or a timer, so no reliable schedule of light.
Must remember to get a timer as my next purchase!

As I can only get 9W replacement bulbs for my 1st generation AquaNano40 (well, I'm not paying the silly money asked for the 13W ones - which weren't too bright anyway. I've not seen how bright the new LED equipped Cube40s are) I've added a double row of LEDs which hang off the glass cover.

They're these:



My Crypts suddenly lept into life and I even seem to be able to grow Vallis now - which I always failed at previously.

If you do consider aquascaping, then think very carefully. Most of the examples you see will be "high tech", with advanced lighting, carbon dioxide addition, lots of specific fertilisers - and lots of work, for ever! Some of these people literally trim their plants every day or so. A well-maintained aquascape can look great, but a neglected one would not only look ugly but would probably be a poor environment for fish. It's something for the dedicated enthusiast.
I can draw a parallel with gardening. Many people admire the white garden at Sissinghurst and try to do the same at home, then wonder why their effort looks a mess. What they don't understand is that to keep the Sissinghurst garden looking good for visitors, every morning a team of gardeners go out at 6 a.m. and cut off every dead and dying flower, and literally arrange and tie all of the plants into perfect position. Of course, most people have neither the time nor inclination to do this at home and hence their gardens are full of brown dead and collapsing flowers, as someone said "more like dirty washing than fresh white linen". Aquascaping is a bit like this, it needs constant attention to look good, a major commitment.
Incidentally, aquascaping is not intended to produce a natural-looking underwater scene, quite the opposite. The idea is to produce something that looks like a miniature landscape, with rolling hills, green fields etc., totally unrealistic.

 Richard and Col, thanks for the advice, I'll be going with the plant 'em and ditch 'em approach then - I'm getting worryingly obsessed with the fish, don't want to obsess over something else as well!
I'm going to get a couple of the easy plants mentioned earlier and see how it goes.